Bottle-capping machine.



PATBNTED MAY 10, 1904.

R. A. WITTEMANN. BOTTLE GAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED IBB. 20, 1903.

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UNITED STATES Patented May 10, 1904.

PATENT OEEICEQ RUDOLPH A. WITTEMANN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO TVITTEMANN BROTHERS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A FIRM.

BOTTLE-CAPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 759,583, dated May 10, 1904.

Application filed February 20, 1903. Serial No. 144,231. (No model.)

To a, whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RUDOLPH A. VVITTEMANN, a citizen of the United States. residing at New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Capping Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to bottle-capping machines of that class in which the tin-foil or other cap is applied to the bottle by an elastic compression-cup inclosing the cap and operated to press the same around the neck of the bottle by hydraulic pressure.

The invention resides in certain improvements over the machine illustrated and described in United States Letters Patent to J. F. VVittemann, dated October 26, 1886, and numbered 351,55 i, the objects of said improvements being to allow complete filling with liquid of the pressure-chamber which incloses. the compression-cup, so as to prevent loss of motion and secure increased pressure when the plunger is lowered in said chamber, to provide for centering and holding the compression-cup in proper position, and to effect a more perfect fluid-tight joint around the open end of the same, and to prolong the life of said compression-cup by preventing pulling at the center of its closed end or uneven strains by the tightening-screw, with consequent wear or breakage.

In the accompanying drawings, which are to be taken as apart of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved ma- Fig. 2 is a central vertical longitudinal section thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail Views, in central longitudinal section, of two different sizes of compression-cups and accessory parts; and Fig. 5 is a detail View, partly in section, of anadjusting-screw havinga deep cup-shaped end to receive a cork projecting a considerable distance beyond the mouth of the bottle.

The letter A in said drawings designates the body or casing of the machine, which comprises an upright part and an elbow or hori- 5 zontal part, the interior of said casing constituting the hydraulic pressurechamber. Said vertical part has a stuiiing-box at its upper end, through which works the plunger B, connected by link or links C with a crank-arm 5 5 or crank-arms D, the shaft of which is journaled in a suitable bearing on the bed-plate of the machine and is provided with a lever E for operating said plunger.

The letterF denotes the compression-cup, of rubber or other suitable elastic material, of tapering shape and provided with a flange'f at its outer or open end. Said compressioncup is inclosed within the elbow or horizontal part of the casing, with its outer flange f clamped between the front face of said casing or elbow thereof and an annular plate G- secured by screw-bolts or otherwise to said casing, a ring-shaped gasket or washer H being preferably interposed between the flange of said cup and said plate, having an annular ledge or flange fitting within the opening in the latter, as shown in Fig. 2. The rear or closed end of the compression-cup is centrally connected to a screw or screw-rod J, which passes through the rear wall of the casing and has a tightening or adjusting nut K thereon, and a flanged thimble or sleeve L is placed on said screw-rod between the rear end of the compression-cup and the rear wall of the chamher, a gasket or packing being provided on the rear flange of said thimble to eflect a fluidtight joint around the screw-rod. As explained in the specification of the aforesaid patent, different sizes of compression-cups may be used in connection with different sizes or lengths of the flanged thimbles, and several different sizes of compressioncups and thimbles are herein illustrated.

The tin-foil or other cap which is to be ap- 9o plied to the bottle is of course fitted in the compression-cup, and the mouth of the bottle is inserted therein. The plunger is then lowered, and the liquid acting on the sides of they compression-cup causes it to press the cap smoothly around the neck or mouth of the bottle, the rear closed end or web of the compression-cup being held fixed by the screw-rod and thimble, all as well understood.

The parts thus far described are substantially the same as in the aforesaid patented machine except in the following particulars:

In said patented machine the liquid employed for transmission of pressure was introduced into the casing through a lateral filling tube or opening in the vertical part of the casing immediately below the stuffing-box for the plunger. In my present improved machine I dispense with said filling-tube and employ a hollow or bored plunger closed at the top by a screw-bolt b. This construction is more simple and eflicient and permits the chamber to be completely filled with liquid, thus preventing loss of motion and pressure around the compression-cup due to the usual air-space at the top of the chamber where the same is filled below the stufling-box. Again,

in said patented machine the screw-rod has an enlarged head, smaller, however, than the web or closed end of the compression-cup, which fits within a recess therefor on the inner side of said web. In the present machine the screw rod preferably has its head j substantially equal in diameter to the internal diameter of the rear end of the compressioneup, and said head fits within and completely fills out said rear end of said compression-cup. This construction tends to prolong the life of said compression-cup by preventing uneven strains thereon or pulls on the central part of its rear wall or web by tightening the screwrod. The head ofthe screw-rod is also preferably cup-shaped, as shown, so as to receive the cork protruding from the mouth'of the bottle and prevent the tin-foil or cap from being pressed against the edges of the cork. There the cork protrudes a considerable distance from the bottle-neck, a screw-rod, such as shown in Fig. 5, may be employed, having its head formed with a deep cup.

A further improvement of the present machine resides in providing an annular lip f at the rear side of the flange f of the compression-cup, which lip fits within an annular groove therefor in the face of the horizontal part of the casing. This feature of construction not only provides a better fluid-tight joint at the outer end of the compression-cup, but serves to center the compression-cup or secure it in perfectlyproper position, the lip f and groove therefor being of course coaxial with the screw-rod.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a bottle-capping machine, the combination with a liquid casing or chamber and an elastic compression-cup therein adapted under hydraulic pressure to press the cap around.

the mouth of the bottle, of a hollow plunger working in said casing, through which the liquid may be introduced, and a removable closure at the outer end of said plunger, substantially as described.

2. In a bottle-capping machine, the combination with a liquid casing or chamber and an elastic compression-cup therein adapted under hydraulic pressure topress a cap around the mouth of a bottle inserted in said cap, of a hollow plunger working in said casing, through which the liquid may be introduced, an operating-lever therefor, a.link or links connecting said lever and plunger andpivoted to the side of the latter near its outer end, and a removable closure for said plunger consisting of a screw-bolt screwed into said outer end.

3. In a bottle-capping machine, the combination with a liquid casing or chamber and an elastic compression-cup therein adapted under hydraulic pressure to press a cap around the mouth of a bottle inserted in said cap, of a vertical hollow plunger working in said casing having an upper opening through which the liquid may be introduced, and a removable closure for said opening.

4. In a bottle-capping machine, the cornbi nation with a liquid-casing comprising an up right part and a horizontally-disposed part, the latter having a flat-faced circular opening and asurrounding annular groove, of an elastic compression-cup inclosed in said horizontal part having a flange at its open end squarely fitted against the outer side of the casing around said circular opening and formed with a rear annular lip which fits in said annular groove, an annular plate clamped to said casing over'said flange of the compression-cup, a tension device centrally connected to the rear end of said compression-cup, and a hollow plunger working in said upright part having an upper opening through which the liquid can be introduced, and a removable closure for said opening.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in 7 presence of two witnesses.

RUDOLPH A. WVITTEIWIANN. Witnesses:

HERMANN CoLBERe, AUGUST R. RoEsoH. 

